411OnTheForty: Texas men’s basketball schedule features Kentucky, Big 12 slate
The Big 12 released the conference slate of the 2020-21 men's basketball schedule Monday afternoon.
Before the Longhorns can embark on the conference games, Texas will take the floor for the first time this season, as UT-Rio Grande Valley comes to Austin Nov. 25. The Texas women will open the season the same day at the Frank Erwin Center, meaning Texas fans will have the opportunity to take in two games the day prior to Thanksgiving.
To round out the men's team's non-conference slate, the Horns will travel to Asheville, N.C., for the Maui Jim Invitational, which will be contested outside of Hawaii for the first time in its 36-year history.
Texas will face Davidson Nov. 30 in the first game of the tournament. Indiana and Providence are among the opponents Texas could face later on the event.
As in years past, the Big 12 will follow a round-robin format for its conference schedule, with each team playing the other nine teams in the conference twice: once at home and once on the road.
Texas will face Baylor Dec. 13 in Waco. The Bears held the No. 1 spot in the Associated Press top 25 for much of last season, and posted a 26-4 record, and welcomes back 2019 starting guards Jared Butler and MaCio Teague.
Kansas, which captured the Big 12 regular-season title last season, will conclude UT's home schedule with a Feb. 22 matchup in Austin. Texas also will battle Kansas on the road Jan. 2.
Sandwiched between conference games will be a high-profile matchup Jan. 30 against Kentucky in the Big 12/SEC Challenge in Lexington, Ky. It will be a reunion of sorts for former Longhorn assistant Jai Lucas, who joined the Kentucky staff in late August. The two programs have only played once before, when Kentucky beat Texas, 86-61, at the 1993 Maui Jim Invitational.
No television dates or game times have been finalized. All games will be broadcast on the Longhorn Radio Network and 104.9 the Horn.
